Chapter 2 (AIAG)
Review responses: Guest: Rest assured, each title has a purpose. kent-jensen: Thank you. anarion87: Thank you, I'm glad that you like my new story. keyblademeister99: Albus won't be intended to be a dick, but I try to stick to canon Dumbledore, and have him judged by his past and distrusted. I'm glad your liking my new story. 'July 20th, 1993.' It had been a great month for Harry. He seized House Malfoy, Lucius contested it and was easily defeated by Dumbledore; wasting his one chance. Harry took his History of Magic OWLs and NEWTs and took his Potions OWL and hired a tutor, much to Dumbledore's anger. Harry just told him that he was tired of dumbing himself down for people who didn't care and were disloyal, and from now on he would be himself and no longer live in fear of isolation. Horace Slughorn was eager to take Harry on as a personal student and even an apprentice when he passed his NEWTs soon, and with the intense schedule Harry and Horace had created, it would be soon. Harry was tripling his effort to acquire a Potions Mastery. Why? Revenge against Snape. Snape had mocked, belittled, insulted, and most importantly: wrongly graded him. Harry was going to get his Potions Mastery and then destroy Snape's legacy by making his work obsolete. He was also going to get a Defense Against the Dark Arts mastery too, which Snape was prevented from ever getting due to being too busy teaching. Harry felt that was an excellent form of revenge. And it was constructive to boot! Harry was presently enjoying the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. Harry had decided to avoid Marge Dursley and just take himself a vacation and so far he had updated his wardrobe and had replaced his trunk with a much more secure and Auror Grade option, with multiple magically expanded compartments serving as a library, a personal potions and ingredients storage, and storage for all of his clothes. The trunk was keyed to his blood, parseltongue, and magic signature, and was nigh-indestructible. It had every security feature and protection offered for it. It could be shrunk and was also feather light. Harry would also be adding more security features when he got older though. For now, Harry had a meeting with a concerned Minister Cornelius Fudge to deal with. "Hello, Minister Fudge," Harry said in greeting, as the Minister entered the private room that Harry had booked. Harry shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to formally meet you." "And a pleasure to meet you too, Harry." Fudge said in reply. Tom brought in a tray of tea and crumpets and Cornelius helped himself. "I take it you called this meeting in regards to Sirius Black?" Harry asked, shocking the Minister. "I did my research and learned that he betrayed my parents, and I won't be pursuing revenge against a more experienced and more powerful opponent. That would merely be a convoluted suicide attempt and I am not suicidal. I'm truthfully not that concerned with Black, last I heard he didn't have a wand and I'm staying in groups of magical people and once I'm at Hogwarts I will be completely safe." Harry said, greatly easing Fudge's mind. If Harry Potter had died under Fudge's watch, Fudge would lose his office. That was why he was here. He did care for Harry's well-being, but he had a family and legacy that he prioritized above Harry Potter. Thankfully, Harry had done his work for him and Fudge could rest easy. "I was quite concerned to hear that you left your muggle families house, even though you did so before Black's escape was made known. Why did you leave your muggle family?" "They can't protect me and I can't protect them. So going back would do nothing." Harry said, ending that line of thought before it could truly get started. "My uncle's sister was coming to visit and she... Well, calling her unpleasant would be extremely charitable. She's actually quite horrible and I intend to look into my parents will, to see if I was even suppose to go to the Dursley's. My mother didn't even get along with her sister!" Harry added, laughing at that last part with Fudge joining him with polite forced laughter. "I hate that you have wasted your time Minister, but I'm safe and taking several precautions. I will mostly be with tutors and reading my course books ahead of time." Harry said, to Cornelius' interest. "Oh? Tutors in what?" "Mage Sight, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. They are certified tutors and cast the appropriate spells, where necessary, to let the Ministry know. I recently took my OWLs and NEWTs in History of Magic and my OWLs in Potions. Dumbledore's pet Death Eater can't teach, and doesn't like me in the first place, so I hired someone competent. With an accelerated course, I should be undertaking a Mastery in well under a year and according to Horace Slughorn, I was easily at sixth year level." Harry said, greatly impressing Fudge with his accomplishments. "That's very impressive!" Fudge said. Harry obviously didn't need his help or protection! "I will let you get back to your studies, Harry. Good luck on your Potions NEWT and Mastery." Fudge said, rising from his seat to leave. "Thank you, Minister." Harry said politely. "Nonsense. Call me Cornelius!" Cornelius replied, eager to buddy up to someone else powerful and of good stock and standing. "Okay, Cornelius. It was nice meeting you." Harry said, as Fudge exited the meeting room. "And it was nice to meet you also, Harry." Fudge said before leaving. Harry informed Tom that he finished his meeting early and was reimbursed for the unused second hour. Harry retired to his room to study. Until the retired Auror he hired to teach him arrived, anyway. He was quickly becoming proficient in his ability of Mage Sight, which helped identify spells somewhat. Harry could probably take his DADA OWL by the end of his first term, if he continued studying with his current level of devotion. Harry would be investing intensely into achieving his Potions Mastery and get it while younger than Severus Snape and that would be his main focus. Harry took revenge very seriously and destroying Snape's accomplishments would be a great form of revenge. If Harry's efforts to recover from his malnourishment continued, he would also get the satisfaction of looking down at Snape when he humiliated him. He was already recovering, due to the ritual he performed and potion regiment that he was on, and Harry was now of average height. August 31st, 1993. Harry's vacation had went great! He had been spending roughly four hours each on Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts, sometimes even going up to six or more hours for Potions. Slughorn was greatly impressed by Harry's immense dedication to attaining his Potions Mastery: a level of dedication that Horace had never witnessed from anyone before. Harry had already progressed to a seventh year level and was surprisingly altering the advanced potion recipes for better and sometimes quicker results. Harry had already spent two weeks mastering the incredibly difficult and advanced Patronus Charm, which impressed his DADA tutor greatly. Harry felt it a wise choice considering that Black was after him and the Dementors were after Black; it wouldn't do for him to be caught between the two. Unfortunately, Harry realized, as he saw Hermione and Ron arguing about her cats attempts to eat Scabbers, he would have to suffer this fight. "Cat's do prey upon Rat's, Ronald," Harry said, announcing his presence and coming down the stairs in Acromantula Silk robes and all around expensive and fashionable clothes. Ron was immediately jealous of Harry when he saw him. He was taller, better dressed, better looking, and smarter. To make it all worse, Hermione hadn't taken her eyes off him since he revealed himself. Hermione was supposed to be his! "Hello, Hermione," Harry said with a smile, putting his lessons in seduction from Salazar to good use. "Whose your new friend there?" Harry asked, referencing the orange cat she was holding. "This is Crookshanks," Hermione replied with a slight blush. "He's quite impressive," Harry said, petting him. "He should be our replacement ginger for the trio, I bet he's far more intelligent than Ron, and probably has better table manners and wouldn't use us." Harry added with a smirk and caused Ron to redden in anger. "I'm confident that I could have some Gryffindor robes made for Crookshanks." Crookshanks glared at Harry and Hermione looked amused at the idea of dressing up Crookshanks, which Ron mistook for her being amused at his humiliation. Ron just left angrily. "So... How was France?" Harry asked, distracting her and preventing her from going after Ron. "Oh it was wonderful, Harry! I learned so much!" Hermione said excitedly. "How did you spend your summer?" "You remember when I said I would no longer hide my true self or hold back?" Hermione nodded yes. "I took my OWL and NEWTs in History of Magic and my Potions OWL. I'm currently pursuing my Potions NEWT with Horace Slughorn as my teacher. With the accelerated course, I should be pursuing my Mastery in under a year, maybe even before the the terms up. The retired Auror I hired to teach me Defense Against the Dark Arts is pushing me hard. For four hours a day on most days. I intend to take my DADA OWL soon too." "I also destroyed the Malfoys, legally. And I'll be learning about some of my magical abilities this year." Harry finished. "That's incredible, Harry! Won't you have to attend Potions class and Defence Against the Dark Arts, though?" "No. If Snape pushes the matter, I'll ruin the bastard. Dumbledore has largely accepted the real me and approves of my chosen teachers. Horace previously taught Potions before Snape and had an incredible success rate, where Snape only favors Slytherin's who are neutral or outright Dark. I'm basically testing out of classes with poor instruction and hoping to achieve at least four Masteries by age twenty-one. Maybe five, if Ancient Runes is mostly memory retention." Hermione was impressed! Harry was actually more intelligent than her, which she found both disappointing and strangely attractive. Harry was quite amazing. He was holding back and still had an intellect comparable to her own. Truthfully, she found that quite humbling. Unknown to Hermione, she had just begun the first step to forgetting Ron Weasley, which was Harry's secondary goal. Harry was incredibly pleased with how this reunion had gone. Ron was driven away and Hermione was choosing to spend time with him, instead of the worthless Ronald Weasley and was impressed by him. Soon, Harry could deflower Hermione and eternally deprive Ron of that pleasure. Oh Harry was willing to give the relationship a chance. Hermione was among the more intelligent of Hogwarts students and quite pleasant to be around, on most days, but he wanted to humiliate Ron further for revenge. Harry's internal joy was quickly ruined by an angry Molly Weasley rushing into the room followed by a much calmer Arthur Weasley. "What is this I here about you being rude to Ronald and ending your friendship?!" Molly yelled, right in Harry's face and right in public. "Your son used me to bolster his popularity and become someone important. When everyone believed lies about me, he ditched me and even helped spread the lies. He tried crawling back and pretending it never happened when I was proven innocent. He gave no apology and showed no remorse or regret." "You will forgive him and give him a second chance! He made a mistake!" Molly said, causing Harry to snort derisively. "You do not command me to do anything," Harry said coldly. "You have no authority over me. You are not my mother and if you were, I would have followed your two eldests example and fled the country to avoid your appalling behavior and over-bearing personality. Never yell at me or attempt to publically humiliate me again or I will destroy you like I did the Malfoy's." Harry said, scaring Arthur into finally controlling Molly. "Oh and Molly..." Harry said more quietly. "Never try to create an illegal marriage contract between myself and your vapid daughter again. The penalty for Line Theft, even an attempt, is quite severe." Ha! That just condemned Molly! Arthur looked absolutely infuriated with her! Harry took this opportunity to lead Hermione to his room. "I can't believe Mrs. Weasley would try to do that!" Hermione said angrily, thankfully after Harry closed the door behind them. "She did. It was only two attempts. One by asking Dumbledore to arrange it and another attempt through my Account Manager, but I wanted to prevent any future attempts. I find Ginny creepy and pathetic. I will choose whom I marry and it won't be an idiotic fan-girl." Harry replied calmly. "Besides. I only have one girl in mind that I'm attracted too." Harry added, looking directly at Hermione and causing her to blush. "It's not okay to tease me, Harry." Hermione said in annoyance, somehow believing he was joking. "Teasing? I'm completely serious... But perhaps I need to persuade you of my honesty." Harry said, pulling her into his arms. "Tell me to stop when you believe me..." Harry said, before kissing Hermione on the cheek. Hermione said nothing, so Harry kissed her passionately on the lips. "Harry!" Hermione said breathlessly, after he pulled away. "You have to say stop..." Harry said teasingly, causing her to blush and finally say it. "You know... I heard third years can visit Hogsmeade and perhaps we could go there together." "Are you asking me on a date?" Hermione asked in shock. "Yes. Hopefully dates, plural." September 1st, 1993. The next morning was hectic, or so Harry heard. Harry had his private security team escort himself and Hermione to the Hogwarts Express before everyone else had arrived, and they carefully avoided all the Weasley drama and chaos. The security team offered to ride with Harry and Hermione to Hogwarts, but Harry politely declined the obvious attempt to make easy money at his expense. Boarding the Hogwarts Express would be a suicide attempt for Sirius Black and he was obviously patient and waiting for something. Hermione and Harry enjoyed mostly companionable silence as they read. Harry was finishing his DADA books for the upcoming year and had to admit that the new teacher knew their Dark Creatures well, and Hermione was reading a book on Arithmancy. Hermione insisted on taking all of the electives, against Harry's advice that she would mentally exhaust and overwork herself. Harry just hoped that she would quickly realize how unwise the decision was. All good things had to come to an end, and Draco Malfoy ruined their silence by barging into Harry and Hermione's compartment followed by Crabbe, and Goyle. "Hello, Malfoy," Harry greeted, while outwardly ignoring him while reading his book, but discreetly summoning his wand from it's holster. "Are you looking for your inbred ancestors lost brain cells? Or perhaps you're looking for a girls haircare products to borrow?" Harry asked, causing Hermione to snort in amusement. Harry scanned Malfoy's surface thoughts to learn that Draco was here for revenge and just finally found the nerve to do it. "I am going to kill you Potter! You took everything from my family!" Draco yelled. Harry's insults having pushed him over the edge. Draco went for his wand, but was stunned before he was even halfway to it. Crabbe and Goyle, idiots that they were, repeated Malfoy's mistake and were quickly stunned. Harry bound them and then summoned their wands. A minute later, a rather ragged looking and shabbily dressed Professor arrived near the commotion. "I was just awoken by a scared student, did they attack you?" The as of yet unnamed Professor asked. "They tried. I anticipated and stunned them when they went for their wands. Please have Aurors waiting at Hogsmeade Station, to take them into custody for the attempted murder or attempted assault of an Heir of a Most Ancient and Noble House." Harry replied. "Is that really necessary?" The Professor asked. "You stopped it from happening." "And If I hadn't, Hermione and I would likely be dead. So, yes, it is necessary. You do something wrong. You get punished, that's how the world generally works. As it's a severe crime, I will be demanding fitting punishment, by the Ministry." The Professor seemed to disapprove. "It was attempted murder, a crime. Not a childish prank or common bullying." "You are aware the headmaster can over-rule that?" The Professor asked, not wanting him to get his hopes up. "I'll persuade him otherwise. Severus Snape is a great example of why second chances shouldn't be handed out so freely to bad people." Harry replied. "He's done more damage to the Ministry than Voldemort or Grindelwald could ever dream of by not actually teaching Potions and through his Slytherin bias. He has destroyed the potential Aurors, Hit Wizards, and Healers, all well before they could ever be in a position to do any good." "I wish you luck then, I'll take these students and keep them contained until we reach Hogsmeade." "Thank you," Harry replied. "I didn't get your name, Professor." "It's Remus Lupin." Professor Lupin replied, before levitating Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle away. Harry and Hermione returned to their books, ever so pleased that the drama was over. Wasn't their youthful naivete cute? They both first realized that something was wrong when the train stopped early... The second hint was all the lights on the Express being extinguished... And then the train was boarded. "Maybe an Auror search? No intelligent person would let Dementors be near children." Harry said in concern, drawing his wand. "Harry! Put your wand away!" Hermione whispered harshly. "Uh, no. Some of these Aurors could be on Death Eater payroll or Black's silence could have been spent recruiting. House Black is worth a lot of money, easily enough to hire thousands of top shelf mercenaries." Harry replied, before just ignoring Hermione. Minutes later and Harry sensed a revolting feeling magical presence. "Hermione, get under the seats now!" Harry said assertively. Hermione naturally disobeyed and withdrew her wand, far too slowly, and she wouldn't have been of any use anyway. The door slowly opened and a Dementor entered... It was unmistakable. Roughly ten feet tall, cloaked and completely hidden beneath it's hood, but it's hands were decayed, slimy, gray and scabbed. "Sirius Black isn't here!" Harry said firmly and loudly enough for it to hear and understand him. And then that abomination 'breathed'. In reality it was merely looking for food, and Harry was barely suppressing it's effects on his mind. "Expecto Patronum," Harry said in annoyance, summoning his Stag Patronus and instantly forcing the Dementor away. "I despise those revolting creatures." Harry said, before sitting back down. "A Patronus Charm is very advanced magic, Harry. Who taught you how to perform it?" "I actually learned it from a book. When I heard that the Dementors were hunting Black, I decided to learn it in case they went rogue. They aren't exactly trustworthy and being able to perform the Patronus Charm is a sign of power and skill." Harry replied. "I'll leave the compartment to let you change into your robes, we'll be arriving soon." At Hogwarts They arrived at Hogwarts twenty minutes later and Harry, Professor Lupin and the still bound Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all promptly summoned to the Headmaster's Office. Fortunately, the Auror's were already there waiting. Sadly, Snape was also present and looked infuriated. "Have a seat, please," Dumbledore said. "I'd rather stand, I've been mostly sitting since London. As I am quite hungry, let's get straight to the point. Why was I called here?" Harry asked in annoyance. "To convince you to not press the charges, Harry. They made a mistake and won't repeat it again." Dumbledore said. "I believe evil and wrong-doing should be punished Dumbledore... And when I sometimes doubt that belief's value I look no further than you, Sir," Harry said, with clear mocking when he called him, Sir. "At the end of the last war you gave a Death Eater a second chance because they feigned remorse and repentance. Since then, that Death Eater has done more damage to the Auror Department than both Voldemort and Grindelwald combined, by actually doing nothing. He doesn't teach the class he's allegedly the teacher of. There has been a eighty-percent reduction in Auror candidates because of your worst mistake: a pathetic man incapable of teaching, a Death Eater, traitor, and known supporter of the Dark Side. And you placed him in a position to weaken law-enforcement and the Light Side." Dumbledore looked humiliated! Snape looked murderous. Almost everyone else, especially the Aurors, seemed to agree with Harry's assessment. "I am legally entitled to execute anyone who assaults me and I have instead granted them the mercy of Azkaban or the Veil." Harry said, getting some smirks from the Auror's. "They will now be legally executed in your office, with the Sword of Gryffindor, and as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot it is your duty to witness executions. Unless, of course, you suddenly find Azkaban a far more merciful punishment." "Have you really turned so dark, Harry?" Dumbledore asked in concern and quite a bit of fear. Dumbledore was worried that Harry was yet another Tom or Gellert, but much smarter and more ruthless. "Oh, yes, Dumbledore. Punishing murderers is evil! I mean how dare someone punish an obvious act of kindness!" Harry replied mockingly, causing the Auror's to laugh at Dumbledore. "You allowed their parents remain free and let them infect their children with their idiotic ideology and left the mess for younger generations to clean up. Well, this is the younger generation cleaning up after you. Don't deny that you could have prevented this, everyone wanted you for their Minister and all you had to do was demand Veritaserum in interrogations." Dumbledore knew that he was beaten, but he could at least deny Harry usage of the Sword of Gryffindor. "I'm afraid that you are correct in your assessment of my mistakes, but I must deny you usage of the Sword of Gryffindor. It doesn't belong to you." "Oh? Sorting Hat, who does the Sword of Gryffindor truly belong too?" "House Gryffindor. Specifically the Lord Gryffindor." The Hat replied dutifully. "Oh good," Harry replied, before revealing the Lordship rings for Houses Potter, Gryffindor, and Emrys. "Can you identify these rings, Dumbledore?" "The Lordship rings for Houses Potter, Gryffindor, and Emrys." Dumbledore replied in defeat and shock. How had Harry acquired the Lordships of Houses Emrys and Gryffindor?! "Thank you..." Harry replied, before willing the Sword of Gryffindor to appear in his hand. Harry quickly impaled Malfoy in a non-fatal area and withdrew the sword to let the basilisk venom spread. "In summary, calling yourself light and good doesn't mean you must oppose justice and give evil second chances. Oh and I own Hogwarts and hereby strip Severus Snape of his right to add or subtract point and assign detentions." A flash of light signaled it's success. "Crabbe and Goyle will have their wands snapped and be expelled. As they are so stupid that it boggles the mind, it can be chalked up to ignorance of laws and of their consequences. Malfoy, however, is just a cruel bully who escalated to murder attempts. Sorry that you wasted your time coming here, Aurors, but I gave them mercy at Dumbledore's request." Harry said, letting Dumbledore know that Malfoy died because of him. "No apology necessary, Lord Potter. I'm just glad that someone believes in bringing Dark Wizards to justice instead of letting them run free and cause damage." The Auror said, before sneering at Dumbledore, who looked shocked at the treatment that he was receiving. "Well, you just might see even more of them brought to justice. If our so-called Leader of the Light is too cowardly and lazy to do it, then someone has too. I refuse to leave the mess for my eventual children and the next generation to clean up. Fortunately, most of them are inbred or have their minds eroded by Dark Magic, so their deaths are only a matter of time." Harry said, getting laughs from the Auror's. Snape was caught glaring murderously at Harry and the Aurors. "Snape, glaring at Aurors and your new boss is unbecoming of you and an embarrassment to Hogwarts. Do I need to have you sacked and replaced with someone who isn't a complete dunderhead, like you?" Snape opened his mouth to say something no doubt unpleasant, but was cut off by Dumbledore. "No, you do not, Harry." "It's Lord Potter, Albus," Harry corrected, causing Remus to gape in shock and the Auror's to smirk. They were loving this opportunity to see Albus Dumbledore taught some humility and witness him being force to admit his failings. "But, you are right, sacking is far too severe for his first offense while I own Hogwarts. If he continues his appalling, biassed, and shamefully unprofessional behavior, however, he will be. And to prevent further damage to Hogwart's reputation, these gentlemen would need to question him under Veritaserum, to ensure that he hadn't done anything illegal while under your protection. Past offenses would have to be brought up for reference, of course, which would require more in-depth interrogation." The Auror's all looked like Christmas had come early. One actually wanted to hug Harry. "Well, we've delayed the Start-of-Term Feast long enough, Albus," Dumbledore nodded, but didn't move. "That was your dismissal, so that you could go perform your duties." Dumbledore left angrily, truly enraged by the disrespect that he just received. Snape followed, looking terrified and concerned that Albus could no longer protect him. Remus was greatly concerned and was wondering what Dumbledore had done to warrant such treatment. "Did you want to speak in private?" Rufus Scrimgeour asked. "Nope. Just wanted to destroy more of his misplaced pride and ego."